Monday, 23 June 2014

A couple of Talking Tech programs ago, I said that I was going to purchase this little Bluetooth speaker that you wear on your wrist, which I have now done, and it is absolutely fantastic. I can listen to music or audio books, and rather than having to take my phone out of my pocket to answer a call, I can just use the band on my wrist.

This is a new phone which will only be available in the US, initially, but it is good to see Amazon ensuring that it will be accessible via a number of accessibility features, much like the Kindle Fire HD eBook reader.

This app allows children who are blind to learn the Braille alphabet. For low vision children, Braille is displayed on the screen of the iPad, whilst a refreshable Braille display can be used for children who are blind to both hear the instructions and read in Braille.

Two main selections:

Teach Me - Flash cards (each letter is spoken, dot combination, letter is displayed and the child can then choose next to go on to the next letter), and Alpha guide puts the Braille letters up automatically both speaking the letter, dot combination and displaying the Braille letter)).

Let’s Play - Reading (select the correct letter when spoken from several choices),Write the Braille letter when asked on the Braille display) and Writing.

You can get help for the commands in BlindSquare by simply entering a question mark to get a list of all help topics or by entering a topic followed by a question mark. Works quite well, and it a great way to remind yourself about how to use Blind Square.

BrailleSense v8.2 has been released

Amongst other features, the update to the Braillesense 8.2 allows you do use Facebook besides Twitter.

Other new features include creating and running macros, waking up to your favorite music or radio station, have a 2nd word processor file open, record a daisy book with the daisy player and insert headings, pages etc.

Here is a link to the HIMS page where you can download a audio demo of the new features in V8.2.

http://www.himsintl.com/?c=4/38&uid=1457

Inquisitors Heart Beat game for Mac and PC

A follow-up to the original Inquisitor adventure, this game is again self voicing, works on Mac or PC and will also be available on iOS.

In this game, the inquisitor himself has been charged with Heresy, thrown in to a dungeon for reading a forbidden book, and now he needs to escape out of the dungeon past soldiers and monsters to get the book before it is destroyed.

When I checked, there was no trial of the game, just an option to purchase the Mac or PC version at the moment.

19. In Notifications Centre, only two tabs now: Today and Notification tabs.

20. iBooks now comes pre-installed rather than having to download it to a new device.

21. Airplay no loner requires a wi-fi connection to play to an Apple TV.

22. Manage AppID from iCloud in Settings.

Siri

1. Can now say “hay Siri” if ;plugged in to power to activate Siri without touching the device. Option controlled by the new Voice Activation toggle in Settings Siri

2. Siri can now listen to a song and tell you what it is.

3. Siri will take you to the iTunes store to [purchase a song after it has identified it.

Accessibility

1. Enhancements to System Zoom.

2. New Grey scale feature for low vision folks.

3. VoiceOver now has a Braille input keyboard plus access to the Alex voice usually found on OS X: only available on the iPhone 5s and the most recent iPad. You can toggle audio ducking on/off via the rotor. New Braille page turning option toggle. New typing mode selection of standard, touch and direct.